Yellowstone National Park Things to Do Tips by Florida999

Hayden Valley and Mud Volcano Hayden Valley Review

The Dragon's Mouth is located at the Mud Volcano parking area, in Hayden Valley. Watch out for the bison walking around in the parking lot...

You would really have to hear this thing, and watch the smoke coming out, to understand why someone could get the idea that there is a dragon in there , roaring and blowing out smoke.

The Mud Volcano is large and stinky. This area in particular could make you think you might be on a different planet.

Yellowstone Lake Yellowstone Lake Review

The hole in the photo is a hot spring, a perfect place to fry the fish you might catch in the lake, without having to take it off the hook ( or so it says on a sign there somewhere...) . We didn't fish, so we did not actually try this out.

Yellowstone Lake is very cold, even with the hot springs, and looks beautiful. It is a lot larger than I had imagined. We saw several deer drinking at the shore when we went to the beach area on the other side of the road from our campground.

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Grand Canyon Review

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is very steep. You cannot climb down it, or get all the way to the Yellowstone river at the bottom. It is VERY impressive looking however, even from the top. There are some path some of the way down, where you can get a better view of the falls, but we could see them just fine from above.
There is an easy and nice hike you can do: the loop trail to Clear Lake. It first goes through a meadow and some forest, past a bison ( not sure it will still be there :-) , to the lake, then past some thermal stinky mudpot areas , past another small lake to "Artists Point" , back along the Canyon rim trail to where you started in the parking lot.

Directions: I will look for them on a map and add them later

Mammoth Hot Springs Mammoth Hot Springs Review

Mammoth Hot Springs is near the north entrance of Yellowstone. Personally, I found this area a little disappointing, compared with the other thermal areas. There was hardly any water flowing out of the springs, and they did not look all that impressive.
( Note: we did see signs that said the amount of water fluctuates , depending on the time of the year).

Old Faithful and Lodge area Old Faithful Review

We had great timing! Just as we walked up , Old Faithful errupted!
This was really the only area that was very crowded. I think most people don't walk any further than about 200 feet from their cars....
We walked around the entire loop trail in this geyser basin and saw a few more small geysers , like the Sawmill one at the bottom, but the larger ones were only smoking.
Lots of pretty pools and springs to look at here too!
The Yellowstone Inn lodge had some rather strange looking but cool architecture. On the inside, the logs look like tree trunks and branches that had been left in their original state.

My kids wanted to touch the water after Old Faithfull errupted, and they did. It was cold by the time it got there and they got an electric shock when they touched it. ( try it!)

Geysers and Hot Springs near Norris and Madison Geysers/hot springs Review

There are many areas of thermal activity in the park. We went to all of them, and they all had something worth looking at. I can't pick a favorite, but the Norris geyser basin and the other areas south of Madison, north of Old Faithful were the most interesting looking to me.
The prettiest looking things were the hot pools that glowed a deep blue or green, some of them had orange bacteria mats growing around them.
The stinkiest were the mud pots. Geysers were definitely cool, but most of them don't go off all the time. One thing is certain, photos don't quite give you an idea what those things are like, you are missing out on the sounds ( hissing, bubbeling, growling) and the smells ( sulfur / rotten egg smells, some areas smelled like burnt potatoes).

Hiking up Mount Washburn Mt. Washburn Review

This was the easiest hike to the top of a mountain with great views we have ever done. It is about 6 miles round trip, but the elevation change is only about 1400 feet, and the trail is not very steep at all. We saw families with small children do it.
On the top is a fire tower. You can see the Tetons and all surrounding areas. There were warning signs about Grizzleys, but we only saw yellow bellied marmots. Lots of pretty wildflowers on the way up!

Address: YNP

Directions: There are 2 trailheads a few miles north of Canyon